Search press releases
Every release here is real and links to its original. Filter by company, topic, language and date.
- Airwheel Wins European Product Design Award for AI Wheel Cabin 20 Inch Luxury Smart Scooter Carry on Hand Boarding Travel Electric SuitcaseBRUSSELS, BELGIUM, Sept 23, 2026 - Recently, Airwheel’s SE3SX Smart Rideable Cabin Suitcase has been recognized in the 2026 European Product Design Awards (EPDA), highlighting the company’s approach to integrating electric mobility, intelligent control, and luggage design into a single travel-oriented product. Listed in the Personal / Luggage: Carryon Suitcase category, the SE3SX reflects a design strategy that moves beyond conventional suitcase architecture to explore how luggage can become an active part of the travel experience. The official EPDA project description highlights the SE3SX’s integrated construction, which combines power, control, and storage systems within an aerospace-grade aluminum-magnesium alloy structure. The design also incorporates a low center of gravity, app-based remote control, and intuitive rotatable handles, connecting structural design with short-distance mobility. This recognition adds to Airwheel’s international design profile and its continued development of intelligent mobility products. Rather than treating a suitcase as a passive container, Airwheel approaches smart luggage as a combination of transportation interface, compact storage system, and connected consumer technology. The SE3SX represents this approach through a compact rideable platform designed for movement across airports, railway stations, exhibition venues, and other travel environments. From Conventional Luggage to Intelligent Mobility Traditional suitcases are designed primarily to store and transport belongings. Airwheel’s smart rideable suitcase concept extends that function by incorporating an electric drive system, rider controls, and an intelligent handle into the luggage platform. The underlying design challenge is not simply to add a motor to a suitcase. It is to coordinate propulsion, balance, structural layout, user controls, and everyday luggage functionality within a compact product. For travelers, the result is intended to offer an additional mobility option during short-distance movement, particularly when navigating large terminals, connecting between transport facilities, or crossing expansive indoor and outdoor spaces. The SE3SX was developed around this combination of mobility and travel utility. Its design brings together a rideable chassis, integrated storage, smart connectivity, and a compact form factor, allowing the product to function as both a cabin-oriented suitcase and a personal short-distance mobility device. Integrated Structural Design and Intelligent Ride Control The SE3SX combines its luggage body with an electric riding system, creating a unified product architecture rather than treating the mobility mechanism as a separate accessory. The official EPDA description emphasizes the integration of power, control, and storage, together with an aerospace-grade aluminum-magnesium alloy construction and a minimalist structural appearance. Under its riding configuration, the SE3SX uses a 230W brushless motor, a 5.2-inch motor-driven front wheel, and two 4-inch rear auxiliary wheels. Its electric telescopic front-wheel mechanism extends the wheelbase by 180 mm with a single touch, helping establish a more stable riding configuration. The product reaches a maximum riding speed of 9.9 km/h, supports a maximum load of 95 kg, and is designed to handle inclines of approximately 6° under specified operating conditions. The riding handle is designed to simplify the transition between riding and towing. Once extended, the handle locks into position automatically, reducing the need for repeated manual adjustments. This interaction is part of Airwheel’s broader design objective: making advanced mobility functions accessible through a familiar luggage form. A Connected Interface Through the Airwheel App The SE3SX extends its physical controls through a dedicated smart app, connecting the suitcase to a mobile device. The app provides access to selected riding and product-management functions, including riding speed information, battery status, cumulative mileage, speed-level adjustment, and lighting customization. Users can also access functions such as telescopic control, low-battery notifications, Bluetooth disconnection reminders, and remote-control features, depending on the applicable product configuration and software support. This digital layer positions the suitcase as more than a self-propelled luggage platform. It provides an interface through which users can interact with product settings and monitor selected operating information, bringing connected-device functionality into a travel product. For Airwheel, the objective is not to introduce technology for its own sake. The focus is on making controls more accessible, reducing unnecessary operational steps, and integrating digital functionality into a product people use during real journeys. Apple Find My Integration for Luggage Location Assistance The SE3SX supports integration with Apple Find My, offering users an additional way to locate and identify their suitcase through the Apple ecosystem. For travelers, luggage tracking can be particularly useful in busy terminals, transportation hubs, and other environments where multiple bags may look similar. Apple Find My integration provides a location-assistance feature within a familiar digital environment, while proximity-based sound alerts can help users identify the suitcase when it is nearby and supported by the relevant functionality. The feature complements, rather than replaces, responsible luggage handling and travel security practices. Its availability and specific capabilities depend on the Apple Find My ecosystem, device compatibility, and applicable operating conditions. Compact Cabin-Oriented Design and Removable Battery Designed as a 20-inch cabin-oriented smart rideable suitcase, the SE3SX measures approximately 530 × 360 × 236 mm and offers a 20-liter storage capacity. Its construction combines ABS+PC materials with an aviation-grade aluminum alloy frame, while the suitcase weighs approximately 6.6 kg excluding the portable power bank. The SE3SX is powered by a removable 73.26Wh lithium battery backed by multiple international certifications. Its detachable battery architecture is engineered to support applicable aviation transportation requirements, enabling the battery to be separated from the suitcase when necessary. By integrating certified battery technology with a removable design, Airwheel combines intelligent mobility with the practical demands of modern international travel. The SE3SX also includes a TSA-compatible lock, supporting inspection procedures where applicable. Its compact dimensions, integrated riding system, and removable battery architecture reflect the challenge of balancing mobility, storage, portability, and transport considerations within a single product. Extending the Travel Experience Through USB Connectivity The SE3SX incorporates a USB output interface designed to support charging for compatible everyday electronic devices. This adds a practical connectivity function to the luggage platform, allowing users to access power for devices such as smartphones and other USB-compatible electronics when supported by the product's power system. The USB interface forms part of Airwheel’s wider product philosophy: useful technology should be integrated into the travel experience without making the product unnecessarily complex. Alongside the riding system, app connectivity, and luggage functionality, the charging interface contributes to a more connected approach to personal travel equipment. Building a Broader Smart Rideable Suitcase Portfolio The SE3SX is part of Airwheel’s broader smart rideable suitcase portfolio, which includes products designed for different travel requirements, user groups, and mobility scenarios. The SE3SX Smart Carry on Rideable Cabin Suitcase combines a 20-liter cabin-oriented format with electric riding, app connectivity, Apple Find My integration, and an integrated luggage design. It is positioned within Airwheel’s premium smart travel product range. The SE3SXD AI Luxury Suitcase introduces a next-generation automatic riding configuration, with one-touch deployment of its front wheel and riding handle. Its design explores more automated interaction between the user and the suitcase. The SE3SL+ Airport Boarding Suitcase combines electric riding with app connectivity, USB charging, and location-tracking functionality, supporting users who frequently move through airports and other short-distance travel environments. The SE3T AI Wheel Suitcase provides a larger-capacity format for users who require additional storage space during longer trips and family travel. The SE3MiniT Electric Hand Suitcase focuses on a compact, lightweight format for short-distance mobility and everyday travel scenarios. The SQ3S Kids Suitcase is designed for family travel, combining a rideable luggage format with speed-limiting features intended for children. Together, these products demonstrate Airwheel’s effort to apply electric drive, intelligent control, and product-specific design approaches across different luggage formats. The portfolio is not built around a single type of traveler; it explores how smart mobility can be adapted to varying travel distances, storage requirements, and user needs. Continued Investment in Intelligent Mobility Technologies Airwheel’s development of smart rideable luggage forms part of a wider focus on intelligent mobility and human-machine interaction. The company’s technology areas include motion control algorithms, electric drive systems, intelligent sensing, and structural design. With more than 600 global patents, Airwheel continues to develop products across smart mobility and connected travel categories. Its portfolio includes self-balancing vehicles, electric scooters, smart folding bikes, smart wheelchairs, and smart rideable suitcases. The SE3SX illustrates this product-development direction through the combination of an electric propulsion system, integrated structural design, connected controls, and a compact luggage platform. Its recognition in the 2026 European Product Design Awards reflects the relevance of bringing these design and engineering considerations together within a consumer travel product. As smart mobility technology continues to develop, Airwheel is exploring how intelligent functions can be incorporated into everyday products without losing sight of usability, portability, and practical travel requirements. The Airwheel’s broader objective is to make mobility technology more accessible in daily life, bringing together design, engineering, and intelligent interaction to create products that help people move through their journeys with greater flexibility. Media Contact Company: Airwheel Contact: Media Team Website: https://www.airwheel.net
- MetaMeta Takes Action on 3.7 Million Accounts, Pages and Content In Partnership With Singapore Police ForceCompanies: Meta PlatformsIt starts with a message. A too-good-to-be-true stock tip. A luxury skincare brand offering deep discounts from a page that didn’t exist last week. A messaging group promising guaranteed returns with zero risk. Behind these “opportunities” are organised, well-resourced criminal networks — operating across borders, platforms, and industries. They move fast, adapt constantly, and rely on the fact that no single organisation can see the full picture of their operations. Disrupting them requires collaboration: law enforcement and technology companies sharing information, acting together, and moving just as fast as the scammers do. In Singapore, that’s exactly what’s happening. A partnership built on sustained information sharing Over the past two years, Meta and the Singapore Police Force (SPF) have built an information sharing partnership designed to proactively identify and remove violating scam content. Rather than responding to individual reports, this collaboration focuses on proactive network disruption – where SPF information helps Meta’s investigators identify and dismantle entire ecosystems of bad actors. Similarly, Meta’s information has aided SPF in the arrest of seven men in 2025 for their suspected involvement in a transnational unlawful remote betting operation. In 2026, information sharing between Meta and SPF has led to strong results: Uncovering Widespread Networks: Between January and June 2026, using information shared by SPF, Meta took action against more than 113,000 entities and pages connected to fraud and scams on Facebook and Instagram, with content predominantly involving investment scams where scammers lure victims in with promises of guaranteed or high investment returns. The information shared by SPF resulted in Meta actioning more than 5x the number of assets flagged. That’s not just accounts being taken down one by one. It’s the dismantling of interconnected networks where disabling one node leads investigators to connected scammers. Proactively Actioning Seasonal Scam Content: In June 2026 in anticipation of upcoming school holidays and the seasonal rise in scams, Meta and SPF conducted an enhanced disruption operation focused on e-commerce scams which promoted misleading pricing, fake promotional tactics for well known brands, exaggerated product claims, and a sense of urgency and scarcity. This resulted in Meta taking action against more than 33,600 entities. Disrupting Networks Before The Damage: Through our ongoing collaborations, SPF information also flagged a newer scam vector: “shell pages”. These Pages look empty and harmless – no ads or violating content. But scammers had pre-built infrastructure, ready to be activated for scam campaigns at a moment’s notice. Working from SPF’s signals, in July 2026, we took action against over 3.6 million shell pages before they could be used – and we’re now pursuing further disruptions against this type of scam. “Scammers count on the fact that no single organisation sees the full picture. What we’ve built with the Singapore Police Force turns that assumption on its head — their information helps us identify threats we might not see on our own, and our ability to act at scale means those networks can be dismantled before they reach more people. This is what effective collaboration looks like. Not just responding to scams after the fact, but proactively going after the infrastructure behind them.” – Daryl Poon, Director of Law Enforcement Outreach, APAC “The Singapore Police Force has long recognised that tackling sophisticated scam networks requires a collaboration with international and private stakeholders. By partnering closely with industry partners, we can share scam signals that allow our partners to take action to disrupt the criminal infrastructure behind these scams. This recent operation demonstrates the power of police and private sector collaboration- scam infrastructure was decisively taken down, cutting off scammers’ ability to defraud Singaporeans. SPF will work with Meta and other online service providers to expand data sharing and strengthen scam disruption efforts.” – Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Justin Wong, Commander Cyber Command, Singapore Police Force Broader anti-scam efforts This work with the SPF sits within a wider ecosystem of anti-scam work that Meta is building on. Across two weeks in May and June 2026, the US Department of Justice’s Scam Center Strike Force brought together Meta, Microsoft, Coinbase, Starlink, and other companies alongside the FBI, Secret Service, and law enforcement partners in the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Thailand. As a result of this joint disruption, more than a million online assets were disrupted — including 1.4 million accounts, pages and groups across Facebook and Instagram, 20,000 Microsoft accounts, and thousands of Starlink kits — and the Royal Thai Police arrested 63 individuals involved in scam operations. Meta, SPF and the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) also collaborate on public education campaigns designed to protect Singaporeans from scams. This year’s “One Step Ahead” campaign encourages the public to turn on in-app security features such as 2-FA (Two-Factor Authentication) and passkeys for Facebook and Instagram to enhance account protection, and use WhatsApp security features such as Linked Device Notifications. The campaign also promotes local resources such as the ScamShield website where users can learn more about different scam types and how to stay safe. So far, the campaign has reached 1.6 million people in Singapore. Meta continues to invest in building defenses across its platforms and removing violating scam content. So far this year we’ve removed 65 million scam ads from Facebook and Instagram, with 94% of those ads removed before anyone reported them to us. Meta supports a shared defense in which platforms, banks, telecommunications providers, and governments exchange signals and support their respective investigations and enforcement actions. That principle underpins our participation in the Industry Accord Against Online Scams and Fraud and the ASEAN Public Private Partnership Principles for Tackling Online Scams. Scams are a global industry, run across platforms, apps, and borders. Meta’s work with the Singapore Police Force shows that shared information, acted on quickly, changes the equation. Because the best defence against organised crime is an equally organised response. To learn more about staying safe online, visit the Meta Scam Protection Center. In Singapore, you can download ScamShield for real-time scam protection. The post Meta Takes Action on 3.7 Million Accounts, Pages and Content In Partnership With Singapore Police Force appeared first on Meta Newsroom.
- The Walt Disney CompanyDisney Consumer Products Announces New Structure and Leadership DetailsCompanies: The Walt Disney CompanyThe post Disney Consumer Products Announces New Structure and Leadership Details appeared first on The Walt Disney Company.
- Medallion Bank Announces Launch of Series G Preferred Stock OfferingMedallion Bank (Nasdaq: MBNKO), an FDIC-insured bank providing consumer loans for the purchase of recreational vehicles, boats, and home improvements, along with loan origination services to fintech strategic partners, announced today that it has launched a public offering of additional shares of its Fixed-Rate Reset Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series G, par value $1.00 per share, with a liquidation amount of $25 per share (the “Series G Preferred Stock”). The offering is a reopening of Medallion Bank's original issuance of its Series G Preferred Stock, which occurred on May 22, 2025. Medallion Bank’s Series G Preferred Stock is traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol “MBNKO.” Medallion Bank is and will remain a wholly owned subsidiary of Medallion Financial upon completion of the offering.
- AmazonInside a decade of Amazon chip design, built workload by workloadCompanies: AmazonAt AI Infra Summit, Amazon SVP Peter DeSantis explained how real customer workloads guided every generation of Amazon's chips, from Nitro to Trainium.
- AmazonAmazon joins global coalition to advance AI education and digital skills for studentsCompanies: AmazonAmazon is supporting First Lady Melania Trump's Fostering the Future Together coalition to give young people access to AI-powered learning tools and education programs.
- AS Pro Kapital Grupp calls for conditional early redemption of its existing 2020/2028 secured bondsAs announced by AS Pro Kapital Grupp (hereinafter also referred to as Pro Kapital) in a separate stock exchange announcement on 22 September 2026, Pro Kapital has successfully placed new EUR 10,000,000 fixed rate bonds 2026/2028, directed to retail and professional investors in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (the “New Bond Issue”). The settlement date for the New Bond Issue is expected to occur on 25 September 2026.
- Global Consumer Electronics Manufacturing Equipment Market Report 2026-2034 Featuring Profiles of ABB Robotics, Bosch Rexroth, FANUC Corp., Fuji Corp., Mycronic, Nordson Corp., Yamaha Motor Corp. and MoreCompanies: ABB GroupNordson CorporationConnected, miniaturized electronics are driving AI automation, precision inspection and flexible, energy-efficient production, creating strong opportunities in Asia-Pacific
- VNET x CATL: Where Next-Generation AI-Native Compute Infrastructure Meets the Battery LeaderCompanies: Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. LimitedHONG KONG, Sept 22, 2026 - China’s new energy and AI infrastructure sectors have recently reached a notable convergence. PJ Millennium I Limited and PJ Millennium II Limited, wholly owned subsidiaries of PJ Millennium Limited Partnership — whose general partner is Lochpine BG I GP Limited, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Lochpine Capital Limited, a non-controlled, non-consolidated affiliate of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (“CATL”, 300750.SZ / 03750.HK) — have completed a strategic investment in VNET Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: VNET), one of China’s leading carrier- and cloud-neutral internet data center services providers. The transaction closed on September 21, 2026. Upon closing, the buyers have become VNET’s largest shareholder, holding an approximately 38.1% equity stake in the Company. The terms of the agreement include a two-year voting and consortium alignment between the companies, providing continuity in VNET’s governance and management while maintaining its strategic direction and operational momentum. The two companies have also entered into a strategic cooperation agreement, aimed at deeper collaboration across operations, technology and ecosystem development, as they jointly pursue the rapidly emerging compute-energy integration market. Mr. Josh Sheng Chen, Founder and Executive Chairperson of VNET, said: “We are pleased to welcome CATL as a new strategic investor and sincerely thank them for their strong support of VNET and our long-term vision. Looking ahead, we will work closely together to deepen collaboration across technology, infrastructure and supply chain capabilities, jointly drive foundational and full-chain innovation in the next-generation AIDC industry, advance innovation in integrated compute-energy systems, and contribute to the development of next-generation digital energy infrastructure for the intelligent era.” As VNET positions itself as an infrastructure provider for the AI inference era, its alignment with CATL at both ownership and business levels has attracted significant market attention. A key question has therefore emerged: why did CATL choose VNET as a major ecosystem partner in its push towards compute-energy integration' According to Frost & Sullivan, VNET’s carrier-neutral data center services revenue is growing faster than the broader China market. Its wholesale data center segment has demonstrated particularly strong year-on-year growth, ranking first among China’s scaled carrier-neutral data center service providers. By retail data center services revenue, VNET ranked No. 1 in 2025, with a 12.3% market share. This combination of growth and market share highlights the strength of VNET’s market position. The Company has also developed competitive advantages across resource reserves, project delivery, customer relationships and access to capital markets — capabilities that have helped lay the foundation for this strategic partnership. Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Asian Leaders Forum, VNET’s senior management highlighted that the Company’s deep commitment to the Chinese market has enabled it to capture a significant share of incremental customer demand over the past two to three years, while maintaining industry-leading delivery capability. This capability will help support the Company’s international ambitions, given the overseas growth of Chinese enterprise customers. At the forum, management summarized VNET’s core competitive advantages across four strategic pillars: First, the Company has secured abundant power-backed resources in regions with relatively low electricity costs. Second, it has demonstrated strong project delivery capabilities, taking approximately 12 to 18 months from greenfield development to delivery. Third, it has established deep relationships with a global network of approximately 7,000 enterprise customers. Fourth, as a US-listed company, VNET benefits from diversified financing channels and solid credit ratings. The Three-Layer Power-Compute Architecture: A Comprehensive Strategic Blueprint Moving forward, the two companies are now focused on translating their comprehensive strategic partnership into an actionable industrial blueprint: a three-layer architecture comprising “Gigawatt-Scale Compute-Energy Facilities + Distributed Compute-Energy Networks + Tokenized Energy Attribute Certificates”. Using this blueprint, the companies will jointly develop a three-layer power-compute system designed to build a nationwide network with global reach, aiming to shape the digital energy infrastructure landscape in the AI era. 1. Gigawatt-Scale Compute-Energy Facilities: The Energy Backbone for Hyperscale AIDCs By combining CATL’s full-stack energy technologies and energy storage systems (ESS) with VNET’s proven AIDC execution capabilities, the partnership aims to develop next-generation hyperscale campuses designed around power-compute integration from the outset. Rather than building the data center first and adding power infrastructure later, the approach is to plan computing and energy capacity in parallel from the beginning. 2. Distributed Compute-Energy Networks: City-Level Edge Infrastructure The second layer focuses on city-level edge infrastructure, directly supporting the strategic deployment of China’s “Six National Compute Networks” and addressing growing demand from smart-city AI applications and localized inference. By extending beyond mega-scale campuses, the partnership aims to expand into city-level edge infrastructure while promoting standardized product design and greater commercial scalability. 3. Tokenized Energy Attribute Certificates: Commercial Model Innovation The third layer focuses on commercial model innovation. By leveraging digitized, auditable environmental attribute certificates as a value-transfer mechanism, this framework enables traceable alignment between compliant computing assets, renewable electricity procurement and related energy attributes. In essence, the model aims to establish a more transparent and verifiable framework linking computing capacity with renewable power and related environmental attributes, supporting future settlement, reporting and optimization of integrated compute-energy operations. For VNET, the three-layer system represents more than a strategic framework — it provides an execution roadmap for its upgraded “dual-engine” strategy. Gigawatt-scale facilities anchor hyperscale campuses, distributed networks extend coverage to city-level computing, and digital energy-attribute management may, over time, support better traceability, optimization and utilization of green-energy resources. Together, these three layers support VNET’s transformation from a pure-play IDC operator towards an AI-native integrated compute-energy infrastructure platform. The Company believes that the entry of a major strategic industrial investor will materially influence institutional perceptions of its risk and growth potential, its financing capabilities, its operational stability and its medium- to long-term expansion pipeline. With CATL’s strategic backing and the rollout of VNET’s three-layer compute-energy architecture, investor focus is increasingly shifting from the Company’s traditional IDC identity toward its broader role in next-generation AI infrastructure. Still, market recognition is likely to depend not only on strategic narrative, but also on measurable operating delivery. That operating foundation is already beginning to show. In Q2 2026, VNET reported total net revenue of RMB2.78 billion, up 14.2% year-on-year, with the wholesale segment remaining the key growth driver as its revenue rose 29.3% to RMB1.10 billion. Adjusted EBITDA increased 25.4% year-on-year to RMB920 million, while adjusted cash gross profit rose 9.4% to RMB1.16 billion. The adjusted EBITDA margin expanded by 3.0 percentage points year-on-year to 33.0%. Adjusted net income reached RMB7.38 million, representing a return to profitability compared with the same period last year. CATL provides more than capital. Its participation brings expertise and capabilities in energy technologies that are increasingly important to the next phase of AI data center development. As AI infrastructure evolves, competitive differentiation is moving beyond basic capacity toward integrated capabilities in power access, energy efficiency, cooling, and long-term operational reliability. In that context, the partnership may strengthen VNET’s ability to participate in the next wave of high-quality infrastructure demand. Notably, several major international investment banks — including Goldman Sachs, HSBC and Morgan Stanley — have recently taken a positive view of VNET. In its latest report dated 3 September, Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating and set a US$14.00 price target. Morgan Stanley, holding an Overweight rating, also set a US$14.00 target price, while HSBC set its target at US$14.10. Goldman Sachs noted that VNET is expected to secure approximately 1.0–1.1GW of wholesale orders for the full year, while its 500MW overseas resource deployment continues to progress, supported by disciplined financing and potential additional synergies from CATL’s strategic investment. Goldman Sachs also expects VNET’s wholesale IDC business to deliver a 2025–2028 revenue and EBITDA CAGR of 37%–38%, highlighting the potential for continued growth driven by AI infrastructure demand and further reassessment of the Company’s valuation. Morgan Stanley maintains its Overweight rating on VNET, setting a US$14 price target, noting that VNET is poised for accelerating EBITDA growth starting from 3Q26, backed by its solid order backlog of 862MW and 3.6GW of available domestic resource capacity. The firm expects capacity deliveries to pick up meaningfully in 2H26, with disciplined overseas expansion plans to mitigate near-term capex risks. From industrial synergies to potential valuation re-rating, VNET’s positioning within the compute-energy integration landscape is attracting increasing attention from the investment community. On one side, CATL is expanding its role from a battery supplier towards becoming a broader infrastructure partner for the AI era. On the other, VNET is pursuing a strategic transformation from a third-party IDC operator towards an AI-native, next-generation digital energy infrastructure provider. The two companies’ strategic trajectories are therefore converging at a pivotal point in the development of AI infrastructure. For VNET, the partnership provides more than additional capital: it creates opportunities for deeper integration across green power, energy storage technologies and global energy networks, potentially strengthening its competitive position as the AI infrastructure market continues to evolve.
- Global App Economy Outlook 2025-2031: Gaming, Social, E-Commerce and Productivity Apps Drive New Growth as Monetization Models and Platform Strategies EvolveSmartphone and internet adoption, especially in emerging markets, is fueling mobile-first apps, super apps and cloud services, while 5G, AI and AR/VR enable richer experiences.
- AmazonAmazon Leo is bringing high-quality satellite internet to UzbekistanCompanies: AmazonAmazon Leo has partnered with telecoms leader Uztelecom to extend connectivity where it’s needed most.
- 'First Direct-Drive Stock' Shakes Up Robot Actuation: How Much Longer Can the Traditional Reducer-Based Approach Hold Up?HONG KONG, Sept 22, 2026 - Direct Drive Tech Limited (the “Company”) launched its public offering on September 21 and is seeking a Main Board listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under Chapter 18C of the Listing Rules. Once the offering closes, the Company will become the “first direct-drive stock” in Hong Kong — and the first robotics technology company in global capital markets defined primarily by direct-drive technology. The market isn’t just watching a single listing; it may be watching an industry inflection point, as robot drive solutions shift from traditional reducers toward direct drive — a transition one young team is betting on to upend the established landscape. According to public records, founder Zhang Di earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Beijing Institute of Technology in 2016 before moving to the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, where he studied robotics systems and control engineering under Professor Li Zexiang — widely known as the “godfather of DJI.” His engineering instincts showed early: while at HKUST, he reportedly designed on his own a robot capable of standing both upright and upside down, and sold it to a research institution. Zhang has served as chairman and chief executive since March 2020, overseeing the Group’s overall management, strategic planning, and business decisions. Zhang founded the Company in 2020 at XbotPark, a robotics incubator in Songshan Lake, Dongguan. The Songshan Lake Robotics Research Institute, controlled by Professor Li, invested at the seed round, when the post-money valuation stood at just a few million renminbi; by the final round before the IPO, the valuation had climbed substantially. Now 32, Zhang has been named to both the Forbes China 30 Under 30 and the Hurun China Under 30 lists. Conventional robot drives pair a motor with a reducer: gears step down rotational speed and multiply torque, which suits high-load, high-impact duty. But every meshing gear introduces backlash and friction — heat, wear, and maintenance costs. Every multi-stage transmission adds response lag, energy loss, and precision drift. These are not process defects; they are structural limits baked into the gear-transmission path. And every reducer weakness maps to a direct-drive strength. As embodied intelligence begins demanding millisecond response, zero backlash, lower energy consumption, and longer service life, reducer-based solutions have hit a ceiling that iteration cannot break. This is not an upgrade; it is substitution. Since its founding, the Company has stayed on the direct-drive path, building its moat on three core technology pillars. By coupling the motor directly to the payload, its solution eliminates reducers and every intermediate transmission component. According to the prospectus, this cuts efficiency losses from mechanical transmission while improving precision, lowering noise, and reducing component wear — and it paves the way for smaller, lighter robots. This is no localized tweak to an existing design; it is a rebuild of the power-transmission path itself. The Company has built core capabilities around direct-drive motor design, thermal management, and drive-control integration — system-level know-how spanning electromagnetic design, control algorithms, and mass production. Zero backlash, zero friction, millisecond response: capabilities conventional solutions structurally cannot deliver are, in principle, within reach through direct drive. Iterating on the old technology cannot close that gap. The financials tell more than a revenue story — they trace how direct drive moved from technical validation to commercialization at scale. From 2023 to 2025, revenue rose from RMB17.5 million to RMB281.7 million, a 300.8% CAGR, as shipments of direct-drive actuator modules climbed from 0.2 million to 8.5 million units. Gross margin improved from 13.5% to 21.5%, reaching 20.7% in the first half of 2026, while the adjusted net loss margin narrowed from 349.1% to 15.4% — 13.7% in the first half of 2026. This is scale economics kicking in: a larger revenue base absorbing fixed costs, not R&D cuts, is what has narrowed the losses. It is not just one company’s growth curve; it is a substitution curve, a technology pathway moving from the margins toward the mainstream. Valuation is where Chapter 18C really matters. The Specialist Technology Company regime lets the market assess high-growth hard-tech companies on R&D capabilities, patent reserves, commercialization track record, commercialization revenue, and downstream customer validation — not net profit alone. That framework fits a company trying to change an industry’s underlying technology pathway. Traditional valuation systems revolve around net profit, and they struggle to price a technology like direct drive that is redrawing a century-old industry. Chapter 18C lets the market price “technology substitution” rather than short-term profitability. The technology pathway for global robot drives is still being written, but direct drive displacing reducers is getting harder to ignore. As the “first direct-drive stock,” the Company’s scarcity value lies in using direct drive to redraw the boundaries of the robot actuation market — giving investors a window into the rise of power hardware for physical AI. Direct-drive penetration in consumer robotics remains low, and the shift away from reducer-based solutions is still in its early days; the market has yet to fully price the trend. As direct drive finds its way into more applications, that revaluation has only just begun.